240 days after the NBA season tipped off, it could finally come to a close tonight, when the Oklahoma City Thunder travel to face the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, 48 minutes away from their first title since 1979 (and their first on the prairie). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($14,200) would join rare company with a scoring title, MVP, and Finals MVP all in the same season. Only Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal have accomplished that feat.
For tonight’s potential closeout game, DraftKings is offering a DFS Showdown contest with $750,000 in total prizes, including $200,000 paid out to the winner. Here are a few potential budget options to fill out your lineup.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $750K Finals Shootaround [$200K to 1st, 3PT Throne Eligible] (OKC @ IND).
SG/SF Aaron Nesmith, Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, $4,800
Nesmith has been in consistent foul trouble — he fouled out in both Games 3 and 4 before getting whistled for five fouls in Game 5 — as a byproduct of being the primary defender on Jalen Williams ($10,800), but he finally got his offensive game going in Game 5 with his most efficient game of the series. The 25-year-old scored 14 points, snagged six boards, and recorded one steal (24.5 FPTS) in just 24 minutes while Bennedict Mathurin ($3,600) had another off-night, and the Pacers are going to need his shooting if they want any chance of keeping their season alive, especially with Tyrese Haliburton ($10,600) questionable with a calf strain.
Nesmith has been primarily guarded by Gilgeous-Alexander, so it might make sense for Rick Carlisle to keep going to him in Game 5. That’s not only because Gilgeous-Alexander is a worse defender than Williams, Luguentz Dort ($4,400), or Alex Caruso ($6,600), but also because a tired SGA is slightly less devastating on offense than a rested one. In its Game 3 victory, Indiana relentlessly targeted Gilgeous-Alexander, making him less effective than usual in the fourth quarter. Plus, Nesmith has had a fairly healthy shot diet, as 27.3% of his field goal attempts have been wide-open threes, the second-highest rate among the team’s starters.
PG/SG Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City Thunder at Indiana Pacers, $3,200
Wallace was tremendous in Game 5, scoring 11 points, snagging two boards, and nabbing five combined blocks/steals (25.0 FPTS), joining Caruso (four times) and Gilgeous-Alexander (twice) as Thunder players to record five or more stocks in a game. That suffocating defense has proven to be Oklahoma City’s X-factor this series; after the Pacers drew within two early in the fourth quarter of Game 5, Wallace snagged an offensive rebound and then recorded a steal and made the dunk on the ensuing possession, turning a two-point game into a seven-point edge and forcing Carlisle to call a timeout. That run, perhaps more than anything else, exemplified the importance of Oklahoma City’s depth.
It was his first 20-FPT performance of the series, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll back it up in Game 6, but because the Thunder’s system is so egalitarian beyond Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams, there’s no cheap Oklahoma City player who’s a safer option. However, I trust Mark Daigneault to stick with what’s working; after two hot games, he allowed Williams to attempt 25 shots — tied for the third-highest total of his career — and that obviously worked out in Game 5 with a 40-point (56.5-FPT) performance. Plus, Carlisle has guarded Williams with Haliburton, who’s probably the Pacers’ worst defender and will be physically diminished if he even plays.
